Dark Side of the Son
by solomonara
Summary: if it goes the way I plan, it'll get pretty dark later on so watch out for sadness. you should derive all you need to know from the title.
1. Default Chapter

Dark Side of the Son

Dark Side of the Son

Disclaimer- you know it, and if you don't, look at my other stories… go on, look ^.^

Note- I need an outlet for sincere emotion. Take this seriously.

*****

It was a time of peace for the Earth and its inhabitants; no unexplainable changes in the atmosphere, no disruptive lighting storms appearing out of nowhere. Peace and quiet. The full moon shone brightly, a glistening pearl flattered by a backdrop of perfect diamonds. The night was cloudless and deep, creating a romantic atmosphere for any two strangers who should chance to cross in this hour of apparent holiness. 

Without warning, cries of pain shattered the silence. The sky glowed evilly and the perfect orb was stained red and orange, a mark of the savagery transpiring below on the imperfect globe. People were torn apart by this powerful foe. Any who stood fell, and the fallen were trampled beneath the boots of one Being. The weak came forth to offer their allegiance. They were wiped away. Men came forth and demanded a reason. They got none. Women begged for the lives of their children. Their pleas fell on deaf ears. Innocents sobbed, and, among it all, there rose one horrible, appalling sound. Laughter. The One responsible cackled, not so much as with enjoyment, but with pride and hunger for the blood of anyone and everyone. It started out as a normal voice, but others joined it. Soon it was a horrible cacophony of all of Earth's worst nightmares; Piccolo Daimo, Freiza, Cell, and even Vegeta's voice joined the One. And, reflected in the sky, toned with the burning hues of a bloody dawn, was the Being responsible for the destruction. Crowned with impossible raven hair and armed with the deadliest smirk, his laughter alone was enough to make the strongest men tremble. And tremble they did, for what is a worse terror than a terror that goes under the guise of innocence?

~mysticGohan33~


	2. Dark Side of the Son Chapter 2

Dark Side of the Son

Dark Side of the Son

Disclaimer- I don't own DB/Z/GT or any of the characters or ideas. No profit is being made off of this. Thank you, enjoy.

******

Son Goku woke with a start, a cold sweat gracing his creased brow. It was the dead of the night; the darkest hour in which time seems to stop. A dark feeling of dread seemed to weigh on him, but he couldn't imagine what could possibly be wrong. He felt his son's ki in his room, subdued with normal sleep. Chichi lay peacefully next to him, a portrait of serenity. So what was wrong with him?

Goku remembered nothing of his dream, that much was obvious. The light of the stars provided a paltry glow; not enough to see by. It was the night of the new moon, Goku noted. No matter. His vision was as good in the dark as it was in the light. Walking softly so as not to wake his family, Goku headed for the kitchen. A snack would help him sleep.

******

Son Gohan woke up not long after his father tip-toed back to bed. He was not startled into waking as Goku had been, but was drowsily reminded of reality in a slow, somewhat pleasant way. Dawdling somewhere between waking and dreaming, he felt a tiny tickling sensation along the back of his neck. Forcing his eyes open, he expected to see the sun glaring at him full-force. But it was still night. What had interfered with his typical sleeping pattern? His mother and father were both in their room, sleeping by the feel of their ki. He climbed out of bed and padded over to the window. Opening it, he felt a cool… no, cold… breeze lift his hair. He climbed back into bed, pulling his blankets around him. The room had not even been stuffy before.

******

Perhaps Andromeda looked down on the two heroes of Earth from the heavens and granted them this vision of what the future held. Perhaps by some fated chance, the son of Bardock was given the chance to prevent what his father could not. However, through these apocalyptic visions, what could be gained? What man, however strong, can save himself and those he loves from his own worst enemy? Once again, the destiny of the celestial body cursed as Earth was in the hands of her adopted inhabitants. Once again, and, should the warnings go unheeded, never again.

******

Sorry these parts are so short. They'll be getting longer soon, I hope. Toodles.

~mysticGohan33~


	3. Dark Side of the Son Chapter 3

Son3

Dark Side of the Son

Disclaimer- I do not own DB/Z/GT. No money is being made off of this fic.

******

Vegeta trained, long and hard. Sweat mingled with blood- his own blood- and ran in tiny rivers into his eyes. He did not bother to wipe it away lest he miss a beat and ruin the pattern. Kick, feint, punch. He slashed through the air before him, high above the rocky terrain. He was not in the gravity room of Capsule Corp., nor was he in a state of reality. He dreamt in livid actuality. The heat of the battle was upon him, but no foe presented itself. Adrenaline pounded through his veins as he continued his wild dance through the air, never pausing once, never breaking the rhythm. He fought the enemy that was not there, all the while knowing that there was one somewhere. And so he trained for this adversary, pushing himself to the very limits until he felt he could push no harder, then continued still, past old limits that seemed weak in light of what he now felt. Not power, but… freedom. 

The Prince of Saiyans flew freely now, unhindered by bonds of mortality, and guiltily left all responsibility behind, along with his body. Then he looked down from that great height and saw, incredibly far below, himself. He lay mangled and bloody, undoubtedly dead, among rocks and boulders. Then he sank underneath the pebbles and dirt. The soul of Vegeta was horrified and suddenly aware of himself. What did it mean?

"You see the future, oh King." Spoke a voice from behind him. "What could be, but does not have to. Have you changed, Lord?" It whispered.

Vegeta sat up suddenly. It took him a moment to realize he was awake and that he still had his body. The dream had been haunting, and he was sure it was important, but it was fading with the first rays of the sun. In a few hours, the Prince would forget the prophecy as he went about his normal life. 

******

Both Goku and Vegeta were able to continue the next day as though nothing had happened. Indeed, nothing _had _happened as far as they could remember. Gohan, too, did not remember waking in the dark of the night. The only unusual aspect in the lives the three was the blissful peace that had taken the place of endless fights. None of them had any reason to dread the coming night. Nothing was a reminder of that fateful evening except the smallest weight, barely noticeable but tainted ebony, on their souls.

******

I know I promised longer chapters but… well, not yet anyway. Review please. Toodles.

~mysticGohan33~


	4. Dark Side of the Son Chapter4

****

Dark Side of the Son

Disclaimer- I don't own DB/Z/GT, and this is a non-profit thing.

**********

"You are afraid." The voice stated. It was not taunting; simply making an observation. Vegeta lifted his bloodied head proudly. 

"I do not fear you, nor any creature." He stated scornfully. 

"And thus should you fear." The voice- accompanied for once by a body- leapt away in a bright flash of white light, leaving Vegeta alone for a brief moment, pounded into the rocky mountainside he had grown so accustomed to over the past few nights. Then he awoke.

Since that night two days ago- that most unholy night of the new moon- the nightmares had continued, and now, on the third day, Vegeta was beginning to remember more about each dream. Things such as the voice. And now, the body. It was clearly female, and hauntingly familiar, as some thing out of a past, half remembered, half blotted out of existence. 

Realizing he would not sleep anymore that night, Vegeta crept out of bed carefully, so as not to wake a slumbering Bulma. The thin sliver of a moon followed him down the spiraling hallways of Capsule Corp., peeking in at the Prince through an occasional window. Shortly, Vegeta found himself outside. Snapping out of the trance-like stupor that had overtaken him, he wondered why he had completely passed by the Gravity Room and ended up here.

The moon provided next to no light to see by, but Vegeta didn't care. Not being the philosophical sort, he had been inclined to ignore his errant imagination and continue daily life. This, he acknowledged now, would not be possible. Something was not right.

_Thus should you fear. _The being's words came back to haunt him. He was not afraid, and certainly not of some apparition that visited him in dreams. But it was true. Something _felt_ wrong. Surrounding himself in the familiar warmth of his power, he took off into the night sky, causing swirling shadows to form and dissipate in his wake. Where he was going, he did not know. When he got there though, he hoped to find an answer or two.

*********

Goku had been having a similar problem to the Prince's. His dreams were slightly more troubling, and he grasped wisps of the visions like a blind man adheres to his cane. The vision did not worry him as much as his inability to recall the more intimate, and likely crucial, details of Earth's supposed fate. The image tortured him at night, taunted him at dawn, and all but vanished with the full force of the sun. During the day, it was merely an unpleasant lingering in the depths of his mind, but so locked away in the furthest chamber of his heart that he could not quite grasp it. Thus it was for the first two days. The horrid events that haunted Earth's champion escalated on the third day. For the first time in his existence, Son Goku was afraid.

Gohan could tell there was something wrong with his father. He could feel it in his very ki, though Goku went about as if everything was entirely normal. Not haunted by peculiar sights in his waking moments, Gohan was the last of those of Saiyan blood not teetering on the edge of explosion. Still, he sat up long nights, for some reason kept from sleep by an odd sort of concern for his father. With no basis in fact, this concern was little more than a fleeting care that intensified from dusk until dawn. The lack of sleep was not apparent on the boy's young face, nor in his daily actions. He was growing accustomed to his nightly reveries and began thinking of himself as an insomniac. He wouldn't tell his mother; she'd only worry. His father didn't need to know; he was encumbered with problems of his own which Son Gohan did not feel comfortable inquiring about just yet. As the sun cycled slowly higher in the sky, the demi-Saiyan woke from his supposed sleep.

********

Vegeta sat atop a crest in a hillside. If he had been looking for the ideal star-gazing location, this would have been the spot. But it was now morning. If he had been looking for a spot to enjoy the shade of trees towering in their aged existence, there were perfect specimens not ten yards away. But Vegeta did not feel compelled to move. If he had been looking for the perfect scene to paint, one untainted by any rude attributes of humans, and one so exquisite in every way that a body was afraid to breath, he was in the correct place. But his eyes were not open. The sun cast its warm rays on the Prince of Saiyans. Purple mountains loomed in the distance. These towering peaks were the reason his eyes were closed. There was something wrong with that place; perhaps it was second nature to one who can feel the spirit of others, but Vegeta did not like the presence of those pinnacles. He was by no means scared. He was simply wary. 

In passing over those lofty heights to reach his destination (if it was indeed his destination, and not simply a chance voyage controlled by destiny) he'd caught glimpses of the terrain beneath. Like the valley, it was perfect. Rocky, yet beautiful in its roughness, it lacked the refined nature of the vale but gained something more important in the way of emotion. Those mountains cried out against the bitter hand fate had dealt them and withstood human battery; the treasure of the glen was impossible to behold save by way of air.

Since coming to Earth, the Prince had changed greatly. No longer did he seek blood. Yes, a good fight, but not the blood of the population. Perhaps Kakarot's blood, but solely for revenge- an honorable pastime in any culture. However, Vegeta still thought in the same way; nothing could hurt him, nothing would dare try, and he was the center of his universe: nothing would change that. Certainly these natural inclinations were not hazardous to himself, nor really to anyone else. But, perhaps had he not been so preoccupied with figuring out his problem, he would have realized the answer heading straight for him.

*******

Goku had escaped his house and the cautious eyes of his son. Gohan tried to hide it, but Goku knew he was worried. He had no reason to be, though. After all, they were just dreams. Goku lived spontaneously; that is to say, he would worry about a problem when it approached and burn that bridge when he came to it. For now, he sought Vegeta. They hadn't fought in a good while and Goku was aching for the rush of battle, minimal though it was in a spar. He needed to get his mind off of everything and this was just the way to do it. 

Vegeta, incidentally, was feeling the same way for similar reasons. So if he was surprised to hear Goku touchdown nearby, he said nothing. And if Goku was surprised to see Vegeta sitting in the middle of nature with his eyes closed, he said nothing. Both warriors simply faced each other, Vegeta with his back to the offending mountains. Both began at once, picking up speed in what spectators (had there been any aside from the flora and fauna) would call an exhilarating display of subtle but deadly power. The battle soon switched to the air, brushing treetops and making them sway with hurricane force. Oddly enough, no words were spoken, no taunts or threats or proclamations. Simply the fight, raw and beautiful in the understanding that this was a holy place, and to speak would be sacrilege. No ki burned the ground, no plant was uprooted, no animal killed. Only the two, high in the atmosphere, yet amazingly close to the earth.

Simultaneously, both burst to a higher plateau. Their minds were as one, and each countered every predicted strike with the ease born of years battling. Goku felt the rush, heightened for some reason in this hallowed space, and it pounded in his ears and blurred his vision. It did not matter. What need had he for sight and sound when he was fighting? He knew his enemy and it was only this knowledge that mattered.

Vegeta felt all cares fall to the plane below and fracture into a million careless pieces. He knew very well that this was only a temporary high, but what a high it was! He and Kakarot, though the Prince would never admit, worked perfectly in sync with each other, and it was as if Vegeta did not want to strike too hard in that opening he saw for fear of ruining the ballet. Kakarot, too, he knew, felt the same. 

And so the two last pure of the doomed race of Saiyan continued their race through the waning sky. The sun burned overhead now, and now sank lower in the west, now vanishing behind the shaded mountains. Stars peered out along with the dreaded moon. This indescribable, full, parade of power. Two shining warriors. A scene for stained glass windows, a legend for future scholars, but merely a relief from the torments of night for the pair. Then, suddenly, as though it had only lasted seconds, the window was shattered. Vegeta found himself back on the hillside, with Kakarot lowering himself confusedly to the ground. Vegeta stood and the two looked at each other, neither sure what had happened. Kakarot had struck a weak spot in his defenses, Vegeta supposed, but what had caused him to ruin the exhilarating fight? He loved a good battle as good as any pure Saiyan, Vegeta would admit that much on a good day, so what went wrong? It wasn't like him to make a mistake like that.

Goku was as baffled as Vegeta. For one moment- the one second it took to break the rhythm- Goku had wanted to end it.

__

I am Kakarot, most powerful of the Saiyan! 

******

so are you disappointed? Yup, it's just another 'Goku goes crazy' fic. Sorry. But if it's any consolation, it focuses mostly on Vegeta. Now then, I am indeed sorry for the length of time this particular endeavor is taking. I can only write when I'm alone, in the dark, and in a bad mood. If this one seems different, well, I think it is. Not to worry, I should be back to my normal, depressing self by next part. Toodles.

~mysticGohan33~


	5. Dark Side of the Son Chapter 5

Dark Side of the Son

Disclaimer- don't own it, won't own it, can't own it…and it's a non-profit work on top of that!

Note- I don't know if I mentioned this, but this takes place before Cell. And now you are thinking 'After Freiza, before Cell, and Goku's on Earth?' No, it's not possible in the ordinary DBZ timeline. This is to give you an idea of everyone's power levels, make sure there's only one pesky little half Saiyan running around (nothing personal against any of them) and only one truly colossal power- that's Goku, of course. So there you are. I changed the last part. You don't need to go back and read it; I'll tell you what happened. When Vegeta and Goku were fighting, they didn't fight as Super Saiyans, since only Goku can reach that level currently. My mistake. It's fixed now. 

*****

Gohan pretended he didn't see his father slink out. He obviously had some thinking to do, alone. Gohan wanted to help, especially since he knew he couldn't. An old feeling of helplessness crept up on him, but he shook it away with an angry frown and shake of his head. Softly, he put his pencil down, closed the notebook, and walked to his window. No, he wasn't going to sneak out, not today. He merely wanted to close it. Though it was the end of Summer, the days felt more like Autumn.

_Not to worry, you will be burning in wicked flame soon enough._

Shocked, Gohan looked up. Where had that thought come from? Paranoia was not helpful or comforting, and he didn't need it now. Resolutely, he closed his window, perhaps a little harder than he'd intended because one of the panes fractured- a tiny fissure that branched from one frame to the other.

_Like my life- No, stop it!_

Gohan silenced more senselessness with another flick of his head. Maybe schoolwork would be a good idea now. He needed to get his mind off the 'nothing' that was troubling him.

****

Vegeta turned his back on Goku and took off. Goku did the same. It was late- Chichi would be worried, not to mention Gohan. Yes, his son had been worried- bordering, Goku thought, on paranoia. One couldn't blame him, really, the kid had had a hard childhood. Of course, it was about to get harder…

Goku looked up and immediately wished he hadn't. The crescent moon, grinning down at him, burned in his eyes. He looked away quickly, but it was too late. His aura faltered, his path wavered, and the Saiyan plummeted. Goku had never fully lost control of his power, especially not his ability to fly. It was terrifying. He slid to a stop in semi-soft dirt, skidding backwards and creating a pillow of it under his neck and back. He didn't move, but lay still against his mound. He burned. The back of his gi was tattered. He burned. His back was scraped. He burned, andunder the painful light of the stars, he slept and dreamed of fire once more…

*****

Vegeta kept his eyes firmly focused on the ground rushing away below him. He would not look up. He knew, far better than Kakarot, that the cycles of the moon could do strange things to a Saiyan, and half of him- the half he refused to listen to- blamed Earth's moon for these odd occurrences. He reached the Capsule Corp. and hesitated. Somehow after the quiet peace of the vale and the fight with Kakarot, these walls seemed confining. Suddenly, uncalled for, memories of Vegeta-sei rushed him. The palace- open, admitting nature, rather than shutting it out. It wasn't that Saiyans were nature buffs- most weren't. The nature of Saiyan was to challenge, and it showed even in their architecture. The royal palace was just one example. It challenged the winds and rains to enter: the Saiyans were not afraid of the nature that, according to lore, created them.

Suddenly, Vegeta knew what he needed to do. Earth was in a time of peace- he could leave. Get away from Earth. Away from Kakarot and his brat. Away from stifling walls. Away from Bulma.

_Abandon Bulma?_

No, that wasn't his plan. The thought only flitted across his brain for an instant and was gone. Vegeta knew he'd be back, some day. Besides, he was fairly certain Bulma wouldn't pine for him all too terribly. Vegeta turned away from the door and headed back around the compound to the Capsule launch pad.

The Prince had no trouble operating the capsule. He's seen enough space-ships in his time to know that they all operated on basically the same principals. In a lift-off that was louder than he would have liked, Vegeta lessened Earth's extraterrestrial inhabitation by one.

He began training immediately, and didn't plan to stop. Sleep brought on by exhaustion was dreamless; that much he knew.

********

"No…NO!" Goku burst into Super Saiyan. _Fool._ A deep voice taunted, then laughed. Goku felt his power being snatched from him, then possessed by it. The rest of the dream was familiar. Doom, gloom, death, destruction, madness, mayhem, and torment, not to mention what he was doing to the dream people. The horrors grew increasingly worse. Goku wanted to close his eyes, but they already were. It didn't stop him from seeing the burning buildings, frantic, hopeless people, and the girl he himself tossed aside having finished with her. He wanted to wake up- he _needed_ to. But of course he wouldn't, couldn't, until the sun, his ally, returned.

********

I think it's a bit longer. If I don't get the next chapter out before Nov. 19, which is likely, happy anniversary to me and happy b-day to Ice ^.^ Little demon was born on that day…oh, maybe 2 years ago? Something like that. So toodles for now.

~mysticGohan33~


End file.
